INTERVIEWS

Dr. Mark Erlander, CEO of Cardiff Oncology discusses their lead drug candidate Onvansertib and the three active clinical trials in colorectal cancer, acute myeloid leukemia, and prostate cancer.  Onvansertib specifically targets and inhibits a downstream enzyme, PLK1, effectively stopping cancer cell division.

Dr. Becky Nagy, Vice President of Medical Affairs at Guardant Health talks about the “Clear Your View” campaign that Guardant Health and three advocacy groups, including Go2 Foundation for Lung Cancer, LUNGevity Foundation, and ALK Positive, have come together to underscore the importance of comprehensive genomic testing.  The campaign encourages oncologists to “stop, test, and wait” for the complete genomic profile for new patients with advanced metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) before starting first-line treatment. 

Returning guest Dr. Paul Limburg, a gastroenterology consultant at the Mayo Clinic, and CMO for screening at Exact Sciences discusses new data from the Colorectal Cancer and Adenoma Incidence and Mortality model (CRC-AIM) shared as several e-presentations published by Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2020 that shows the value of Cologuard® (mt-sDNA) as an effective colorectal cancer screening test over fecal immunochemical testing (FIT).  The research also highlights the need for improved access to colonoscopy following a positive Cologuard® test or FIT.

Heart surgeon turned medical device entrepreneur, Dr. Lishan Aklog, CEO of PAVmed, Inc., discusses EsoGuard, a non-invasive esophageal DNA test and EsoCheck, a non-invasive cell collection device for the detection of Barrett’s Esophagus, a little-known precursor to esophageal cancer.

Dr. Becky Nagy, Vice President of Medical Affairs at Guardant Health discusses the phase l/ll study led by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and published in “Nature Cancer” that showed Guardant360® liquid biopsy test identifies predictors of response to PIK3CA inhibitors in women with HR+ Metastatic Breast Cancer. 

Dr. Lisa C. Richardson, MD, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Division of Cancer Prevention and Control (DCPC), discusses what cancer patients and their caregivers need to know to stay well while staying at home during the COVID-19 crisis and what to do should anyone with cancer or caring for someone with cancer contract COVID-19.

Dr. David Spetzler, President and Chief Scientific Officer at Caris Life Sciences® discusses MI Exome™ a next-generation sequencing-based assay analyzing the whole exome of 22,000 DNA genes. This new assay will be offered as part of the Caris Molecular Intelligence® suite of comprehensive profiling services that are designed to detect and characterize the molecular features of cancer to guide more precise individualized treatment decisions for patients.

Dr. Dan Carlin, founder, and CEO of WorldClinic discusses the services provided by WorldClinic, how they are helping save lives during COVID-19, and how he remotely saved a patient whose heart had stopped using his iPhone.

Dr. Eunice Wang, M.D. at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, talks about acute myeloid leukemia (AML) an aggressive form of blood cancer that presents with many different subtypes.  She also discusses why genetic testing for mutations is critical in making treatment decisions amid COVID-19 and beyond.

Rakhee Langer, Vice President, healow telehealth solutions at eClinicalWorks®, a leader in healthcare IT solutions, discusses the healow telehealth platform features and capabilities that are contributing to better decision making and patient care.  She talks about the importance of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing, and beyond.  Healow logged more than 10 million minutes in the first 10 days of April 2020.